Corry Area High School VB

Date: 09/18/18

Location: Corry Area High School

Scores:

Corry wins the Region 2 Match: 3-1

28-26

22-25

25-21

25-16

Keys to Outcome & Coaches Comments:

The 2018 Corry volleyball team won the biggest home match in program history last night, winning a very tough match against the Maplewood Tigers. Maplewood, coached by legendary Sheila Bancroft came into the contest ranked #2 in the PVCA State poll, just ahead of Corry, who was ranked #3.

The first three sets were battles, with each game being won by the team that was tied or behind at 18-18, making the end of game exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. In the first set, Corry jumped out to an early 10-7 lead only to fall behind 15-13 after a Maplewood timeout. Corry tied the game back up at 18-18 at which point, Maplewood looked to takeover the set leading 21-18, and a convincing 24-21 lead; however, Corry wasn’t done. Maplewood made an error to trying to return the 3rd ball, Corry’s Brooke Joncas put down kills three out of the next four points sandwiched around a Maddi Vona service ace and an error by each team to take the lead at 27-26. A tough serve by Joncas forced Maplewood into a roll shot that Emily Sonntag dug easily and MEG Goodsel hit for the kill.

The second set had an almost reserve script, Maplewood jumped out to a 10-7 lead before Corry seemingly took control of the game leading 17-13 and 22-19, before Maplewood rallied for the second set comeback, winning the next six points and taking set two 25-22.

The third set was a back-and-forth affair, with the score tied at every point from 13-13 to 17-17, then again at 21-21 when finally Corry broke away for the set win behind two kills by Emily Sonntag, a Maplewood error, and MEG Goodsel pushed a ball down the line over the libero’s head to score the 25th and deciding point.

After three nail-biters, Corry never trailed after the score was tied at 6-6 and the team took over the match behind tough serving that wore down the Maplewood serve receive and a balanced offensive attack.

I was really proud of how the team reacted in the first set after being down 24-21; it would have been easy to throw in the towel and start thinking about the next game… but, with senior leadership and consistent play we were able to fight back 3 set points and win that important first set. The momentum of winning the first set was huge and while we didn’t play our best throughout the evening, I loved our mental toughness to pull out such an important match.

Because we only play each Region 2 opponent once this year, this was a key win to pushing our Region championship streak towards 6-in-a-row. Clearly, we still need to beat 4 more teams (Lakeview, Greenville, Titusville, and Sharon), but Maplewood was expected to be the biggest hurdle.

Our two outside hitters performed really well; senior Emily Sonntag who has been the leader of the team so far this season had a big night with 8 kills and two service aces, and junior Maddi Vona was just shy of a triple double… 11 digs, 10 kills, and 9 service aces.

Statistical leaders for the day included:

Records:

– Corry is now 5-0 overall record and is in first place in the Region 2 standings with a 3-0 record.

Corry plays again tonight at AAA Harborcreek and then next Tuesday night we travel to Greenville before coming home to play North East. Corry is the 2016 AA State Champions and currently ranked #3 in the PVCA State Poll.